Quitopia. Collective City-making, Participation and Autonomy in Quito's Urban Future

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to challenge the way in which cities are planned towards a more inclusive approach. Taking Ecuador as a case-study, it initially looks at a set of concepts and articles of the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution and National Plan, focusing on topics such as the city, participation and autonomy. In this way, the research attempts to detect the potential of this institutional framework in order to satisfy the right to the city in Ecuador. Focusing on topics such as the city, participation and autonomy, the research attempts to reveal the potentialities of such institutional framework vis à vis the planning of more inclusive cities. In a second moment, it points out that, despite the presence of participation and autonomy in this legal panorama, such principles have been very scarcely placed into practice. To attempt filling this gap between theory and practice, the thesis looks at the cultural history of participation and self-management of the Ecuadorian territory and brings to light an ancient, but yet still exercised, Andean practice called minga. After studying minga's evolution and co-optations along centuries, the focus goes to mingas' impacts in Quito's urban peripheries. This analysis is pursued through the study of the actors, events, decision-making processes and spatial impacts of mingas in shaping the territory of three self-managed neighborhoods of Quito. Quitopia, the last chapter, and title of the thesis, finally envisions a scenario where the Ecuadorian recent constitution and the cultural background of the minga, merge in a utopia where the metropolitan collective spaces of Quito are inclusively reshaped and co-managed. Although focusing on a specific case, Ecuador, the interpretation of the regulatory background, together with the study of local culture concerning the creation of collective spaces, are seen as a powerful combination that can be used wherever we want to experiment on alternatives for the future in urban planning.

Jaar van publicatie:2019

Toegankelijkheid:Open